Van Jones at Powershift: "We Can't Afford for Poor People Not to Have Solar Panels"

Van Jones is one of the most exciting and effective green leaders in the nation -- and it's precisely because his message, that fighting for clean energy, social justice, and job growth is best done in unison, stands to rouse wide swathes of the nation to the cause. He's already made a powerful impact, first by working to bring good jobs to neglected urban areas, then by penning a bestselling book on the green collar economy, and finally, by joining the Obama administration as its green jobs adviser. Of course, someone with such an effective, powerful message was bound to stir the ire of corporatist conservatives, who lead a smear campaign that ended in his ouster from the White House. Since then, Jones has laid low. So it raised some optimistic eyebrows when he was given billing as a keynote speaker at this year's Powershift (a gathering of 10,000 students and young leade...